Help plant butterfly milkweed, grey-headed coneflowers at Nygren June 12

ROCKTON, Ill.—The greenhouse is full of butterfly milkweed, grey-headed coneflowers and June grass, and the Natural Land Institute (NLI) needs your help planting them at a free, family-friendly event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, June 12, at the Nygren Wetland Preserve, 3190 W. Rockton Road, Rockton.

Greg Keilback, NLI stewardship director, said volunteers will be shown how to plant these and other wildflowers.

“We are asking people to please show up in full force ready to put these plants in the ground,” Keilback said. “Most of the seedlings will go directly into various parts of the preserve to increase native plant richness to benefit birds, mammals and other wildlife.”

Keilback said butterfly milkweed is typically brilliant orange and attracts nectar-loving insects. They contain chemicals that are eaten and stored by monarch butterfly caterpillars to make themselves toxic to predators.

“The plants are interesting, the preserve is beautiful this time of year, and I can almost guarantee you will have a good time,” he said.

NLI is a not-for-profit group that has been conserving land in northern Illinois since 1958. For more information, call (815) 964-6666 or visit www.naturalland.org.